HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

"DO YOU SEE ANYTHING?"

Theresa shook her head as she shone the flashlight into the pitch black water, but then suddenly the compass needle began spinning out of control.

"Stop!"

Robin and Eddie did so, bringing the paddles up while the compass continued whirring furiously.

"Guys, what's going on?" Dustin came over the radio, Nancy grabbing it.

"The compass," she replied, "it's going out of control now."

Tess looked up, noticing Steve taking off his shoes and socks. She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Somebody's gotta go down there and check this thing out," he absentmindedly responded. "Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... it's gotta be me. No complaints, alright?"

He looked specifically at Theresa as he said that last part, receiving a slight glare in return.

"Steve–"

"No complaints," he interrupted, giving her a stern look as he up. "I let you be stubborn all the time, it's my turn now."

Steve looked down into the water for a moment, Tess pursing her lips with irritation. She crossed her arms sourly, glancing away.

"Hey," Eddie spoke, "I'm not complaining. I do not wanna go down there."

He reached in his jacket pocket and revealed a plastic bag, emptying its contents on the boat floor.

Theresa rolled her eyes, looking up at Steve as he pulled his shirt off. She fought the urge to roll her eyes once again.

With the plastic bag, Eddie wrapped the flashlight in it. Tess slightly raised her eyebrows, finding that surprisingly smart of him.

"Hey," Eddie held up the flashlight to Steve, who took it. "Good luck."

With that Eddie gave a nod and stuck a cigarette between his lips, striking his lighter when Theresa reached over and snatched it from his mouth.

"No smoking."

She flicked it on the ground while Eddie blinked with confusion, then turned and looked up at Steve.

"Steve."

He turned his head to her, eyes big and round. Tess bounced her knee and twisted her fingers uneasily. She felt nauseous, and it wasn't just because of being pregnant this time.

"Please be careful. Please."

Steve halfway smiled like the cocky son of a bitch he was, giving her a small nod.

"Of course."

With that, he took a dive into the dark water. Theresa peered over the edge, watching until the flicker of light became smaller and smaller.

"That's the first time I've ever heard you say please," Eddie remarked, Tess looking back up with annoyance.

"How about you please shut the hell up?" she smiled, tilting her head.

Eddie drew in a breath, holding up his hands to feign innocence.

Robin angled her head to the side thoughtfully, studying Theresa while she kept her eyes glued to the water.

"You really love him, don't you?"

Tess glanced up at Robin, slightly furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well– yeah," she shrugged a little, eyes darting to the side. "Of course I do."

Robin started to smile, looking over at Nancy for a split-second but not before Theresa noticed. Though, she held her tongue.

Suddenly, Steve hit the surface of the water, gasping for air.

"Holy shit," Tess breathed out with relief, clutching her chest.

"I found it," Steve panted, the other four's eyes widening.

Theresa ran a hand through her hair, never having felt so relieved to see Steve's face.

"It's more of a mama-sized gate than a snack-sized gate but still, it's pretty damn big," he explained.

Tess reached out just then reached out for Steve's hand. He took hers, and then abruptly jerked downward with a splash.

Eyes going big, Theresa frowned with confusion. Steve looked down at the water, unsure of what had just happened as well.

"What–"

Tess was interrupted as she went overboard with a scream, being dragged down into the water with Steve by an unseen force.

She wondered if this was how she was going to die.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

    WHEN THERESA OPENED HER EYES again, she had no idea where she was.

She figured she must have blacked out for a moment, but as Tess sat up and looked around the realization hit her: she was in the Upside Down.

Theresa climbed to her feet, finding Steve nowhere in sight. Her heart was racing, terrified. She had to find him.

"Steve!" she yelled, hearing her own voice echo across barren land. She was standing in the middle of the lake, except it was all dried up.

Shouting his name again, Tess moved forward in frantic search of him.

"Tess!" She heard a voice cry, turning on her heel just then in the direction of it.

In the distance, Theresa could see a figure flailing on the ground, not hesitating to sprint toward who she knew was Steve.

There were creatures swarming around him, slimy winged things that looked like bats. Tess could see they were pecking at Steve like crows on roadkill, gasping with horror as she searched for something, anything to fight them off with.

A boat oar was lying on the ground a few feet away. Theresa took a leap toward the paddle, grabbing hold of it firmly before she turned and took a swing at the monsters.

She did not see Nancy, Robin and Eddie come through the gate behind her, gritting her teeth as she furiously hit away at the bats.

"Tess!"

Throwing her head over her shoulder, Theresa saw the other three had arrived, instantly coming to her aide to help her get the creatures away from Steve. They kicked at them, stomping on whatever they could while Tess took as many out as she could with the oar. Eddie located the other, doing the same as more bats came swooping down viciously.

The bat that had its tail around Steve's throat took Theresa's boot to its head, Steve finally managing to get to his feet and grab hold of the still squirming creature.

Steve brought it around to the ground many time before stepping on its wing, ripping the bat in half and tossing the other part to the side. He spit blood from his mouth, everyone seeing that all of the bats had retreated now.

"Steve, Jesus," Tess rushed over to him, placing a hand delicately on his shoulder as she examined the wounds on his abdomen. "Holy shit."

Steve looked down at his own injuries, seemingly taken by surprise by them.

"Well, they took about a pound of flesh," he weakly remarked, Theresa grimacing.

He looked back up at her, meeting her eyes. "Hey, I'm alive, right? I'm okay, Tess."

"Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" Robin asked just then, crouched in front of a dead bat.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"It's just that– rabies are like, my number one greatest fear and I think we should probably get you to a doctor really soon because once the symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already like, dead."

Tess and Steve exchanged a look, but no one had a chance to reply to Robin because there was a chittering sound once more, the group looking to the sky to see that the bats were coming back.

Steve grabbed Theresa by the shoulders, moving himself in front of her. But the five all watched with some confusion as the bats circled around the gate's entrance rather than flocking to them.

"Alright," Steve muttered in a low voice, "there's not that many. We can take them... right?"

His question was answered when dozens more squealed in the sky, flying toward them. Tess looked around, knowing they did not have the resources for another fight. Plus, Steve was already hurt; they did not need to risk him being hurt even more.

She noticed a multitude of dead trees to her left, realizing that it was the same woods in Hawkins.

"The woods," Theresa said, moving in that direction. "Come on."

No one had any disagreements, running after her as Tess sprinted as quickly as she could toward the rotting forest.

She was not the fastest person, nor did she like running, but somehow she outran everyone else in that moment. Theresa was not taking any chances with those little monster bats.

Tess did not stop until she recognized a familiar giant rock, darting underneath the curve of the boulder while the others followed suit. She briefly wondered if all of this strenuous physical activity was going to take a toll on her pregnancy, and she really hoped not. Not before she had even told Steve.

They all crouched under Skull Rock, having no choice but to wait it out while the bats rampaged above. After awhile, the sounds of their squeaks died out.

"I think they're gone," Theresa said quietly, listening intently for a moment. Silence.

She stood up once again, taking a few steps from underneath Skull Rock.

"That was close," Robin panted, placing her hands on her knees.

Tess turned back around, eyes widening as she saw Steve stumble into the side of the rock, swearing under his breath.

"Steve," she hurried over, knowing that this was going to happen. He had lost blood, and was still losing more.

"I-I'm fine–"

"Shut up," Theresa interrupted, reaching out and placing her hands around his arms. "Sit down."

Steve winced as she made him sit, the others walking over to see what was going on. Tess examined the deep wounds on his torso, setting her jaw. She needed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Nance," she said, eyeing the cowl Nancy was wearing. "Can I use that scarf?"

Nancy obliged without hesitation, removing it and handing it over. Theresa tore the fabric roughly whilst Robin kneeled in front of Steve timidly.

"Okay," she spoke nervously, "so the good news here is that I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies, but um– if you start having hallucinations or– or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive like you wanna punch me or something, then you should totally let me know. Okay? Yeah?"

Steve grimaced, mumbling, "I kinda wanna punch you."

Robin laughed with some relief while Theresa folded the scarf in her hands, replying, "Sense of humor's still in tact. That's a good sign."

Nancy placed a hand on Robin's shoulder, drawing her away to distract her while Tess looked Steve in the eyes.

"Alright, can you sit up?"

He nodded, doing so as he raised his arms above his head. Theresa knew it was going to hurt, but it would at least prevent Steve from losing so much blood.

She let out a shaky breath, leaning forward to wrap the fabric around Steve's abdomen. He let out a stifled groan, Tess wincing slightly while trying to wrap the scarf tight around him.

Steve brought his hands to his head while Theresa leaned back, meeting his eyes once again.

"Is that alright?"

He gave a nod, easing back down against the stone wall with heavy breaths. Tess tied the fabric in the front, not noticing Steve staring at her while she focused.

She withdrew her hands at once, looking up at Steve again.

"There," she gave a small smile, "all better?"

Steve nodded again, returning her smile. "Thanks to you, Dr. Sinclair," he joked.

He brought a hand to her face, wiping away a smudge of dirt with his thumb. Theresa placed her hand over his, inhaling slowly. She really thought she had lost Steve for one scary, brief moment. Just thinking about it made her nauseous.

Tess broke the eye contact by going in to kiss Steve, pulling away a second later and flicking him on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, do you hear me?" she spoke sternly, Steve blinking dumbly.

He rubbed his forehead, giving a nod. "...Sorry?"

Theresa got to her feet, then helping Steve to his while keeping his arm around her shoulder. They rejoined the group, finding Eddie once again standing on a rock. Tess was not sure why he liked to do that.

"So, uh... this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?" Eddie inquired, turning to them.

"Pretty much," Nancy replied, watching as Eddie was about to jump down. "Wait, watch out for the vines. It's all a hive mind."

Eddie faltered. "It's all a what?"

"Everything's connected, Eddie," Tess shortly explained.

"You step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat, you're stepping on... Vecna," Steve added, throwing up a hand.

Eddie slowly nodded at once. "...Shit."

Robin made a face. "But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people, obviously?"

Theresa halfway shrugged. "From our knowledge of the Upside Down, yes."

"So, theoretically," Robin replied, "we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate."

"Yeah, I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin," Steve responded. "But guns, yeah. Sure."

Nancy paused. "Well– we don't have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns... in my bedroom."

Eddie hopped off of the slab of rock, making a face. "You," he nodded at her, "Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?"

"I know, it surprised me too," Tess cut in, looking over to Steve briefly.

"A Russian Makarov and a revolver," Nancy continued, crossing her arms.

That reminded Theresa of something with a sudden thought. "Wait, I have a gun too. In the trunk of my car."

"See, now that's less surprising," Eddie said, gesturing to her.

Tess shot him a look, removing her arm from around Steve. Eddie pulled off his denim vest just then, chucking it at Steve who caught it, taken aback.

"For your modesty, dude."

Before Steve could reply, the ground gave a sudden shake that sent them all stumbling backwards. Steve grabbed onto Theresa from behind without hesitation, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist while the other slammed against Skull Rock and tried to steady the two.

The tremor finally subsided, but not before there was the sound of a harsh cry echoing through the woods.

They all looked around, attempting to catch their breath again.

"Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me," Eddie panted.

Tess nodded in agreement.

"That's my philosophy always."

notes.
y'all i really thought i was gonna fit the pregnancy reveal i'm truly sorry 😣 it wasn't intentional this time i swear

no but i had to research this shit bc i was like, can a pregnant woman be dragged 100+ feet into the water and not lose the baby??? i'm trying to keep this girl from having a miscarriage but goddamn is it hard 😭

the way tess and steve will literally risk their whole lives for each other 💔 they're so perfectttt what the fuckkk when is it my turnnnn

i wrote exactly 2400 words in this chapter, proud of myself fr

what do we think about a flashback scene with theresa and eddie? just so i can make it more painful when he 🪦 lol

i'll give y'all a hint about the name of tess & steve's kid: it starts with S 🤭